The Mezza-
The Design Plan
Complete design thinking. Your hands on the execution.
You don't need someone to manage your project. You have a contractor you trust, a timeline that works for you, and the organizational capacity to see it through. What you need is a design vision that's actually worth executing — one that's been thought through at the level of architecture and space, not just assembled from what's currently available.
That's what Mezza delivers. The same depth of conceptual development I bring to full-service projects, packaged in a complete design roadmap you implement on your own terms
The Plan is where projects are won or lost.
Here's what nobody tells you about execution: your contractor will build what the plan says. If the layout was never resolved, he builds the unresolved layout. If the finishes were chosen one at a time from what looked good that week, that's what gets installed — permanently, at full price, with excellent workmanship. He also prices out the specific finishes and their specific installation. More specific finishes=better budget estimates.
The expensive failures I see are almost never execution failures. The tile was set beautifully. The cabinetry was built exactly to spec. The problem was the spec.
A contractor executes decisions. Someone has to make them well first.
“A keyboard executes what you already decided. A pencil helps you decide”
What you receive.
This is not a mood board and a shopping list. It's a professionally developed design concept grounded in spatial thinking, architectural proportion, and the specific way you live.
Your Mezza package includes:
Floor plans and space planning — optimized layouts showing furniture placement, circulation, and proportions tailored to your rooms
A cohesive design direction — the visual language, palette, and tone of your space, established so every later decision has something to answer to
Curated furnishing, finish, and material selections — chosen for scale, proportion, and longevity, and for alignment with your life, not just your aesthetic
Specification sheets and a sourced purchasing list — documentation your contractor can follow accurately, with nothing left to interpretation
A sequenced execution roadmap — what to handle first, what depends on what, and the order that prevents rework
You'll have everything you need to bring the design to life without guesswork, costly errors, or the creeping suspicion that something is off.
This is right for you if…
You want professional-level design direction without paying for full-service project management. You have a contractor or trades team you already work well with and need a clear, cohesive plan for them to follow. You prefer to stay in control of purchasing, scheduling, and execution — but you want the assurance that every decision has been made with trained eyes and thirty years of practice behind it.
You're not looking for someone to hold your hand. You're looking for someone to get the thinking right so you can execute with confidence.
And you'll have that. Every decision in your plan is anchored in a trained designer's perspective, not assembled from what looked good online.
THE PROCESS
1
discovery call, then design consultation
We start with a complimentary call to confirm fit, then a paid working consultation ($500) where we dig into the space, your goals, and how you plan to execute. From this we develop the project program — the brief that every design decision will answer to.
2
design discovery and site survey
We document the space: photos, video, measurements, and any existing plans, along with the inspiration and information that tells me how you actually live in it.
3
Concept Development
This is where the thinking happens. I develop your design direction, floor plans, elevations as needed, and the curated finish and furnishing selections — each decision made in relation to the others, not one at a time.
4
You execute with a plan worth following.
Your contractor builds from real documentation. Your purchasing follows a sourced list. Your decisions were already made, in the right order, with trained eyes. The result feels intentional and cohesive — without the pressure or the fees of a full-service engagement.
Final Concept Presentation
You receive the complete concept package, presented and walked through — not dropped in your inbox. The layouts, the selections, the specifications, the sequenced roadmap, and the reasoning behind each of them. You leave understanding not just what to do, but why.
““I would highly recommend working with DPG Design. Dawn has great taste and sensibilities, is passionate about her projects, and is ultra-diligent in execution, from sketches and planning to working with suppliers and sub-contractors.””
Ready for a design vision worth executing?
Let's start with a discovery call. We'll talk through your project, your goals, and whether Mezza is the right fit for where you are right now. If a different level of support makes more sense-more or less-I’ll say so.
faqs
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The design thinking is identical — what changes is who executes it. Full service (Tutto) includes procurement, contractor coordination, project management, and installation, all handled by my studio. Mezza delivers the complete design plan — layouts, selections, specifications, and a sequenced roadmap — and you manage the purchasing, the contractors, and the timeline. Same depth of thinking. Your hands on the execution.
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Yes — and it's one of the smartest ways to work. The design happens at the whole-house level, so every decision is made in relation to the others: the sightlines, the material language, the way rooms hand off to each other. Then execution follows your timeline and your budget, phase by phase. What you avoid is the alternative most people live through — renovating room by room over a decade, each phase reflecting whoever they were and whatever was available that year, and ending up with a house that reads like a timeline instead of a home. Design once. Execute when you're ready....Design once. Execute when you're ready. Mezza is especially suited to this — you receive the complete master plan and control the pacing entirely, phase by phase, on your own terms.
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Yes — it's one of the most common ways clients use it. A well-defined plan gives your contractor exact finishes, layouts, and design direction to build from, which is precisely what most renovations are missing when they go sideways. Contractors consistently do their best work from a clear plan, because it removes the on-site guessing.
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You receive floor plans, space planning, and complete conceptual direction. Technical construction drawings and detailed elevations aren't part of the standard package, but they can be added when your project needs them — most useful for renovations involving cabinetry, millwork, or anything a contractor will build rather than buy. We'll determine what your project actually requires during the discovery call, so you're not paying for documentation you don't need.
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Yes. Your concept includes curated selections with a clear list of sources and specifications, so you and your contractor know exactly what to order and where. No decoding, no hunting for "something like" what was intended.
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Yes. One round of revisions is included, along with an agreed number of re-selections based on project size — enough to refine the design and confirm alignment, without reopening every decision. A concept that keeps changing isn't being refined. It's being redesigned, and that's a different engagement.
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Yes — multi-room concepts are common, and often the better choice, since rooms that relate to each other should be designed together. Pricing is determined by scope, which we'll define on the discovery call.
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It can. Some selections may be trade-only sources, and we'll discuss before the concept begins whether you'd like to purchase retail, through trade sources via my studio, or a mix. Your plan will be built around whichever path you choose, so every item on your list is one you can actually buy.
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Yes — Mezza works fully virtually and is available nationwide. Renovations and new builds translate especially well, since so much of the work happens from plans, measurements, and documentation you can share from anywhere.